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“We live in a culture that places a high value on being busy,” writes Rev. Dr. Judy Morley. “We go through life sleep deprived, stressed out and worried that we didn’t finish everything, despite getting more done than was thought humanly possible just a generation ago. We have become human doings instead of human beings.”

It’s no wonder that interest in things like off-grid living, tiny house projects, and container gardening are on the rise. We have succumbed to a spirit of busyness and our inner spirit is growing weary of the chaos. We want solutions. We want relief. We want peace.

But we have it backwards. Our creator says, “Seek first the Kingdom of God” (Divine guidance, hope, faith, inspiration, encouragement, direction), and everything you need will be added to your life. But our priorities have shifted to a predominately materialistic point of view. We seek first everything we think we want or need and then ask God to bless it. Morley says, “We replace diving guidance with frantic action and hope that our effort will produce enough results to compensate for our lack of inspiration.” We have to get out of the spin-cycle before it chokes our soul completely.

One way to do this is to practice lingering. In moments of love, beauty, laughter, etc., don’t rush to check them off your list; linger. Stay in the moment. Allow them to make an impression. As the March 11th entry for the devotional, God Calling, describes, “Look for beauty and joy (intentionally seek) in the world around. Look at a flower until its beauty becomes part of your soul (linger). It will be given back to the world again by you in the form of a smile or a loving word or a kind thought or prayer (paying it forward).” Listen intently to the song of a bird, or the rustling of the leaves on a tree. Take a few extra minutes to gaze at the clouds or the stars. Dip your hand in a stream and experience the water flowing through your fingers.

In these moments, linger, and soak in the Divine creation for it’s incredible power to bless you as you pause. These moments have the ability to shift your mind back towards a simpler life if you will practice them often enough. And they can return you to a state of calm and peace. Otherwise, a life void of these moments will starve the heart and eventually destroys the soul.

I’m doing my best to stay informed, yet stay out of the mire of the mainstream media storm around world events lately. It’s not easy. But this quote from W. Clement Stone came to me in my journaling time this morning; “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” How can you not be effected by all that’s going on? Is it a new trend? Who’s to blame? We are bathed in opinions and editorials aimed at swaying our mind in one direction or another. But as I step back and try to put it all in perspective, I am acutely aware at just how negative it all is. Tragic, yes. But where is the positive spin? If you believe everything from their perspective, we’re all about ready to die.

Now, I understand that there is a global shift towards violence and chaos. That is for another discussion. But we don’t have to lay down and quit. We don’t have to agree with the negative slant on humanity. Is there evil among us? Sure. But doom and gloom is a waste of energy – especially when your immediate world is still pretty good. Maybe there’s a different response in all this. What if we all adopted a different attitude? What if we fought back – with positive intention instead? We have been lured into a passive, fearful mindset – which is one step away from negative resignation. We still live in the greatest country on earth – surrounded by some of the greatest people on earth – we have just forgotten who we really are.

I love this following observation I jotted down one day from an unidentified web page:To know your true self is to set free the beauty God made in you. So much of the pain of human existence is created by misunderstanding. We accept wrong ideas about who we are, and therefore live painful, stifling, disappointing lives. We were made to be so much more than that! When we rightly understand who we are, we can live as who we are. And if we accept the wonders God made in us – like love, emotion, devotion, passion, intelligence, love of truth, etc. – then we can express those wonders for the good of all.